Visit Loulou Van Damme at her home in Palani Hills, Kodaikanal

Belgian designer Loulou Van Damme’s personal cottage in the hills comes with a perfect memo: do nothing and just be.

The veranda at Loulou Van Damme's home in Palani Hills, Kodaikanal features furniture from Jodhpur and Jaipur.

Unwinding with Vivaldi

On certain days, Isla Maria Van Damme (who goes by Loulou Van Damme) puts on some Vivaldi to unwind in her cottage in Palani Hills, Kodaikanal. On other days, it’s Bach. And on yet others, it’s Louis Armstrong’s jazz hit, When The Saints Go Marching In. On such days, Loulou, now 72, finds herself dancing to the music. “By myself,” she exclaims, “And who knows, someday I might with my guests too.”

Chilling in Kodaikanal

Guests are welcome at Loulou’s Kodaikanal home through the year—one of two bedrooms in the designer’s cottage, built like an old English bungalow, is meant for “eating well, watching the stars and doing your own thing”. The mantra of her life—to let go and just be—transcends to how she designs and hosts: “No ostentation—only the basics of luxury,” she says, adding, “What’s important is to multiply the number of places you can actually sit and relax.” Loulou encourages her guests to wake up early, do a bit of yoga or meditate, and generally bask in quiet contemplation of the surrounding hills and scenery of Kodaikanal.

Kodaikanal Calling

On the edge of the property at Kodaikanal, Loulou is building another space—fashioned on the big coffee warehouses often seen in the hills— vernacular in treatment, and, in her own words, “a bit mad; I have mixed things that should never be seen together—grand arches with metal windows.” She plans to move into the house too, before she opens it out to guests. This one will draw people from around the world—filled with curios sourced from her travels; her many, many cookbooks; her bowls of homemade butter and loaves of freshly baked bread; her Vivaldi and her Bach; and, most importantly, Loulou Van Damme herself. Perhaps the reason why people visit at all.

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Loulou Van Damme.

In the same room, above the 1960s Godrej desk, are oil paintings by Flemish artists.